Birth Tourism – "Every Second Mother Pushing A Pram Through Miami Is Russian”

Birthright citizenship and immigration are two issues set to take center stage during the last week before the midterm elections of 6 November.

During an election really in Estero, Florida, current US President Trump doubled down on his claim that he would make it harder for foreigners to immediately obtain citizenship for children born on US soil, saying: "Under this policy, anyone who breaks into our country and has a child, the very next moment that child would be made a citizen for life. Great. This policy has even created an entire industry of birth tourism. Big business, where pregnant mothers travel to America to make their children instant American citizens."

Whereas yesterday the admission by Spanish speaking newspapers that people are indeed interested in the possibility of having babies on US soil (see our related coverage) by placing the foreign issue on their covers, today German newspaper Die Welt decided to investigate even further and arranged an interview with a Russian based agency that arranges ‘birth tourism’ for rich Moscow women to the US state of Florida.

Mr Anton Yatchmenev works for “Miami Care,” a Russian agency that has no less than 10 employees: a lawyer, a doctor, interpreters and a range of Miami-based consultants offering all kinds of services. The head office is based in Moscow and offers all-inclusive service packages to couples who want to use the agency's “special services” in Florida.

Though rumors are abundant that all kinds of Russian citizens fly to the US to have their children, Mr Yatchmenev states that the agencies (there are at least 10 like his in Moscow) are only affordable to middle class or wealthy Russians, stating: "I mean, how many Russians can afford to spend 30,000 US dollars in three months."

Half of the Russians in Florida pushing prams are from Moscow, the other half from the oil-rich northern Russian provinces.

Mr. Yatchmenev claims that the agencies are so successful that "every second mother pushing a pram through Miami is Russian."

According to New York’s Center for Migration studies, some 36,000 foreign mothers give birth to children on US soil using ‘birthright citizenship’ (and are thus able in later life to bring their relatives to the US). According to Mr. Yatchmenev of ‘Miami Care,’ the actual number is higher given the ongoing baby boom.